The One Hundred Year Storm
by Lil Grrl Bleu
Summary: What happens when a major storm hits Las Vegas, flooding the strip? Chaos! -COMPLETE-
1. Default Chapter

Title: The 100 Year Storm

Author: Mackenzie

Email: 

Genre: "Las Vegas"

Category: General

Disclaimers: I don't own 'em, don't claim to own 'em, don't sue.

Author's Notes: I saw on my local news that Vegas is getting some flooding, so I went online and saw that the Strip was only getting "sprinkles". Well, I'm gonna punch things up a bit and make it so that the Strip is getting some major flooding, which, causes problems all around. Special thanks to our very own Samantha Jane for giving me the insight that Ed would think his local government was a bunch of morons. LOL

1/

"Torrential downpour has drowned the Strip again for the fourth consecutive day, causing motorists to be stranded in their cars. The 100 year storm, so dubbed by Mayor Goodman, has also put a damper on Vegas' number one money maker-casinos. With people unable to get to the casinos, they are unable to make money."

Ed grunted as he turned off the television and stared out the window at the aforementioned torrential downpour. "Talk about putting a clink on things," he said with a sigh. Since the storm began, he's pretty much been confined to the hotel, due largely in part to him deciding to take his Aston-Martin out instead of the more practical cherry red H2 Hummer.

"Ed, this is absolutely ridiculous! My clients can't come in because of the storm, I can't even convince Brunson to let the jet pick them up! If they don't come in, I don't get paid."

The President of Operations sighed as he turned and looked at his top casino host. Samantha Jane Marquez crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance as she narrowed her eyes at the older man. "What do you want me to do, Sam? Ask God to give us a break?" He walked back over to the window and looked up, "Okay, God, anytime you want to shut the water off, feel free." He waited a few minutes before turning back to look at Sam, "My prayers weren't answered."

Sam rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in exasperation. "Well, we'll see how eager you are to crack jokes when the casino starts to take a real hit. Mr. President of Operations makes almost a million dollars a year, drives two freaking cars worth over $100,000 each. Me? I have to live in the place I work."

"Actually," he began with a smirk as he crossed his arms over his chest, "I make $1.2 million, but who is counting?"

His employee glared at him as she stalked out of his office in anger.

Nessa rushed into the lobby of the Montecito, lowering her head, her exotic eyes hidden by a dark pair of glasses. As she ducked into the nearest bathroom, Mary and Delinda, who had been watching the downpour through the full-length windows caught a glimpse of a woman with large frizzy hair quickly enter the bathroom. The two women glanced at each other and made their way in to investigate.

"Oh my god," Delinda said as she erupted in a fit of giggles.

Nessa sighed as she turned and looked at her surrogate sister. "Do you mind?" She asked in annoyance, "I can't help it if the bloody humidity turns my hair into..."

Mary cut her off with a grin, "An afro?"

The African American woman groaned as she turned and looked at herself in the mirror, "What am I going to do? I can't go out onto the floor looking like this."

"May I suggest a do rag?" Mary asked, causing Delinda to double over in laughter.

Nessa glared at her two friends as she reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of oil and put some in her hair and tried in vain to take some control over it. Within twenty minutes, the girls had transformed Nessa's hair into the sleek coif she normally wears. Walking out of the bathroom, she dropped the bottle of oil back into her bag, "Thanks for the help."

Delinda was bringing her hands to her nose as the three of them walked, "This stuff smells so good, I wonder what it'd do to my hair."

Nessa rolled her eyes, "Trust me, you don't want to find out. It's not for white girls' hair."

Mary laughed as Delinda elbowed her surrogate sister in the side.

"Hey, hey, girls, be nice to each other."

The three stopped abruptly as Mike blocked their path.

"Do you mind?" Nessa asked, her voice laced with a twinge of annoyance. "I have to get clocked in and out on the floor."

"Yeah," Mike said, "I seriously doubt you are gonna get much action, considering that the strip is flooded. Sam is already having a melt down about that."

"There are still some high rollers in the house," Delinda pointed out.

"True," Mike began, "but don't you think that they are more worried about getting home than dropping more money here?"

Mary narrowed her eyes at the man, "You are a depressing man, Mike." That said, she bypassed him and made her way out onto the floor.

"I want all this damn rain to stop!" Danny said in frustration, pounding his hand against his desk to emphasize his point. "It's like a friggen tsunami out there."

"Yeah, I'm sure the people in Sri Lanka and Thailand would agree with you," Mitch replied dryly as he worked at his desk.

The ex-Marine just glared at his co-worker, "Do you always have to be a smart ass?"

Mitch looked at him, "Does it bother you?"

"Yeah," Danny began, "actually it does."

Mitch smirked at him, "Than yes, I do."

The other man sighed deeply in annoyance and was about to come back with a retort when a large crash coming from Ed's office was heard. Danny headed up the steps and popped his head in and found Ed's television on the floor, the screen broke. "You know, Ed, you could have just changed the channel."

The older man glared at his employee, and, in a stern voice, said, "Out!"

Not having to be told twice, Danny ducked out of the office and walked back to his seat. Mitch grinned at him, "Ed pissed at the weather service again?"

Danny nodded, grinning as well, "Yup."

"You know," he said, "that's the second television he's broke in three days."

The other man kept grinning, "Yup, and Brunson's gonna be pissed when he gets the bills."

Mitch grinned, "Yep."

Without another word being spoken, Ed whipped his door open and barked, "Somebody get purchasing to bring me up another television!" He slammed his door and Danny looked at Mitch, his brows raised. "Your turn."

Mitch sighed, "Where's Mike?"

"He's talking to an electrician about making sure the generators are in order." Danny nodded at Ed's office, "You better make that call, Ed's not a fun person to be around when he's pissed."

Mitch sighed as he reached for the phone and made the call.


	2. Chapter Two

2/

"So, these generators... You think they'll hold up if we get a power outage? Cause if not, we are going to have a hotel full of pissed guests."

The electrician nodded as he looked at Mike, rubbing his hands on the back of his trousers to get rid of the grease. "Oh yeah, you may not be at 100, but they'll suffice."

"Okay," Mike said, "not being at 100, what does that mean, exactly? Cause I gotta go up and explain this to Ed like he were a six-year-old and I can't use any MIT mumbo jumbo or else it'll confuse him and then piss him off."

The electrician laughed as he nodded, "There will be enough power to run the elevators and lights, but not the slots and most of the casino will have to be shut down."

The African American man nodded as he extended his hand, "Okay, sounds good, thanks, man, I'll take the info up to Ed."

The other man nodded as he was lead out of the room by Mike, who then made his way up to Ed's office.

"Tell Ed that a new TV will be here within the hour."

"I'm not going in there, you tell him."

Mitch sighed as he glared at Danny, "Danny, look at me. I'm in a wheelchair and there are steps that lead up to Ed's office. What do you want me to do? Yell at him from below?"

Danny shrugged, "Whatever works for you."

Mitch sighed as Delinda walked in. "Hey, guys. What's going on?"

"Delinda." Both men said simultaneously with grins on their faces.

"Uh-oh," the blonde said, "Which one of you screwed up now?"

Danny and Mitch looked at each other, "Delinda, that hurts!"

Delinda rolled her eyes, "Is my dad in?"

Mitch nodded, "Yeah, do me a favor, would you? Tell him that he'll have a new TV within the hour."

Delinda nodded as she headed up the stairs. Danny and Mike watched her walk into Ed's office. "Poor girl," Danny said sympathetically, "Ed's going to eat her alive."

Mitch nodded, his voice was quiet, "I always liked her too."

"Hi, Daddy."

Ed glanced up and gave his daughter a small smile, "Hi, honey, you holding up okay?"

Delinda nodded as she sat down on his couch with a sigh, "Yeah, but I have a tab down at the boutique."

Her father sighed, "How much of a tab?"

The woman sighed as she tucked her long legs up under her, "Oh not much," she replied innocently. "I just needed a few odds and ends."

"How much, Delinda?"

Delinda just shrugged. "Two, maybe three hundred dollars."

"$300?? For odds and ends?" Ed asked in exasperation.

"Well, Daddy, I needed pajamas, socks, and a few other personal stuff. And you know that place is high anyway."

Her father sighed deeply as he rubbed his forehead. "Alright... I guess I'll have them take it out of your check."

The next sound that was heard was a high pitched gasp. Ed quickly looked at his daughter, only to find that she had a look of horror and shock on her face. "Delinda, you don't expect me to pay for your little shopping spree, do you? I was just fine going to the hotel gift shop and getting stuff from there, and before you even bring it up, let me say that so was Mary and Nessa. You are the only one who had to have Gucci socks and underwear."

Delinda frowned and then sighed softly. As she opened her mouth to say something, Mike walked into his office. "Hey, Mr. D, good news. I just talked to the electrician and he says that he thinks that the generators will hold out, should we lose power."

Ed grinned, "Excellent."

"Yeah, all we have do to," Mike began, "is shut down part of the casino."

As Ed was about to open his mouth to say something, all the lights, monitors and computers went off. Within seconds, the sound of clicking could be heard and Mike had a panicked look on his face as Ed put his hands on his hips. "I thought you told me the generators would hold out if we lost power."

"That's what the guy told me!" Mike said as he rushed over and tried to open the door in vain.

The older man sighed deeply as he sat back behind his desk and awaited the melt down that he was sure Mike would have.

The sounds of angry gamers filled the casino and Mary and Sam couldn't help but wince. "This can't be good," Mary said as she looked around.

Sam sighed as she reached for her cell phone and tried to call somebody. Her frustration only increased when her phone beeped at the screen flashed an empty battery. "Oh great, just what I need. More problems!" In annoyance, Sam threw her phone down the ground and watched as it broke.

Mary gave her friend a gentle rub on her shoulder, "I'm sure the generators will kick in soon, Sam. We probably ought to go and find Ed and check in with him so he knows that we are okay and not in an elevator or something."

"Impossible, Ed's holed up in his office with Delinda and Mike," Danny said as he came up from behind. "And judging by how Ed was after the last time he was locked in a room with Mike, I gotta feeling he's having a blast right about now."

Mary laughed quietly as she shook her head, "Poor Ed, how does he always manage to get the short end of things?"

"Retribution is a bitch." Sam said, still irritated by the previous conversation she had with Ed.

Deciding to let the remark slide, Danny bid his farewells to Sam and Mary and quickly tried to get up to the surveillance area, knowing that he'd be needed.

"Sam! This is a nightmare! I was up three grand!" Sam winced as she was approached by Kevin Bailey, a client from Chicago.

Plastering on her best face of sympathy, Sam lead him away, "I know, Kevin, and I'm so sorry. But this weather is really wreaking hell on everybody right now. I promise that once the power is restored, I'll personally see to it that you are comped for your stay as well as get a line of credit."

"When will that be?" Kevin asked in irritation.

"Soon." She promised with a smile. Seeming satisfied, Kevin walked away and Sam was muttering to herself, trying to think of the quickest, easiest way to kill herself without drawing too much attention.


	3. Chapter Three

3/

Mike stood in Ed's office, looking down at the heavy river that flowed freely down the streets of Las Vegas Boulevard. "There's water down there," he began, "and I can swim. I can easily throw a chair, or a lamp, or something heavy, out the window, jump and swim to shore."

"Swim to shore?" Ed asked, his brows arched, "You aren't in a friggen boat, Mike, you are in a building with sixty-three floors."

"Ah," Mike began, "But we are only on the third floor."

"You'll break a bone, Mike," Delinda said. "Just wait it out."

"Wait it out? Do you know how long we'll be stuck up in this death trap with a man who could put King Kong to shame?" Mike quickly looked at Ed, "No offense, Mr. D."

Ed sat back in his chair, an amused smile on his face, "None taken."

Delinda sighed as she stood up, "Well, maybe," she began as she approached Mike, "if somebody had made sure to double check with the electrician, than we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Well maybe," Mike countered back, "if some cheap bastard actually got the new generators we needed instead of overhauls, than we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Good point," Delinda agreed and then turned to glare at her father.

The older Deline sighed as he shook his head, "Fine, I agreed to the overhauls, but only," he said as he stood up, "because I didn't want to get an ass chewing by Brunson, who, by the way, is the mega cheap bastard."

"But you signed for it, Dad, and now we are stuck up here like sardines."

"Look, if you hadn't have come up here to beg for more money, than you wouldn't be up here! You'd be back down there with the rest of them." Ed fired back, suddenly waving a finger in his daughter's face as if she were a small child.

"And what exactly is 'them', Ed?" Mike asked, his hands on his hips.

"Them!" Ed roared, "You kids are so goddamned spoiled today it isn't even funny! Everything's gotta be high-tech, run on batteries, have internet access, the ability to send pictures through a friggen phone, play pq4s!"

Delinda blinked, "PQ4s?"

"You know... those stupid music things." Ed said in annoyance.

"Um, I think you mean mp3s, Dad."

"Whatever," he said as he began to pace himself. "Here it is," he ranted, "raining cats and dogs, we got a river instead of a street, no money's coming in, and you are griping because you need money."

"Hello!" Delinda said as she stopped, glaring at him, "When did this get to be my fault? I'm not the one who ordered for the overhauls instead of the new generators! You want to be pissed at someone, be pissed at yourself!"

Ed stopped and looked at his daughter. He was about to say something when his phone rang. He grabbed the ringing phone, "What?" He barked.

"Now is that anyway to answer the phone, Eddie?"

Ed sighed softly and turned his back to Delinda and Mike, "Hi, honey, you doing okay?"

Delinda's head jerked over to her father and quickly walked over to her, "Is that mom?"

"Just a second, honey," Ed put a hand on the phone and looked at his daughter, "No, it's one of my girlfriends." He gave her a wink and removed his hand, "Okay, I'm back, sorry, is everything okay? The basement hasn't flooded, has it?"

Jillian laughed as she sat in the living room, watching the rain pour down. "No, the basement is still dry, miraculously. I'm fine, we lost power though, and, of course it would happen right after I bought some seafood and put it in the freezer."

He laughed softly, "Of course. I got one better on you though."

"Better than a freezer full of shrimp, crab legs and orange roughy?"

"I'm holed up in my office with our daughter and Mike. We lost power too." Ed responded with a sigh.

Jillian winced, she had heard the stories about Mike and his claustrophobia during the last blackout. "I thought you guys got new generators to prevent something like this from happening again."

"Well, we were going to get them, but Brunson just went for an overhaul."

"But you are the president," his wife pointed out, "don't you get to pretty much do what you want?"

"Well," Ed said, "some of the time, but when it comes to big purchases like that, I have to get it cleared with Brunson."

His wife nodded, "Okay, well, I just wanted to call and see how you were doing. I was going to try and come out and bring you and Delinda some stuff, but seeing as how you both are locked in your office, I guess that would be pretty pointless."

"You just stay there, okay? The very last thing I need is to be worrying about you being out in this."

She laughed softly, "Alright, call me later."

Ed hung up the phone and sighed.

"So, a girlfriend, Mr. D?"

Ed turned and gave Mike a dirty look, "You know, if you want to jump, go for it."

"Sam, it's been well over an hour! I can feel my good luck leaving!"

Sam sighed as she ran a hand through her dark hair and turned and looked at Kevin Bailey again. "Kevin, what do you want me to do?"

"I want the power restored!" He exclaimed.

"Fine," Sam smiled sweetly with a smile, "I'll just call down to the Venetian and have them send over a gondola and I'll row myself down out the desert to the power grid and put the electrical degree that I got to good use and solve everybody's problems!"

Kevin blinked at her, "You have an electrical degree?"

The brunette sighed in annoyance and walked away from him, heading towards Mystique. She stopped when she saw Mary. "God, how does stuff like this happen? I've got clients who are pissed off because they lost money, clients who are pissed off because they feel their good luck is wearing away and clients who are pissed off because the runways are flooded."

Mary laughed softly, "Glad I'm not you."

Sam just shook her head and sighed, "Well, being me right now has to be better than being Ed right now," she said with a laugh.

As they walked towards Mystique, Danny passed them by. "Any luck with the electric company?" Mary asked.

Danny stopped in his tracks. "The electric company? You call the electric company when you neglect to pay your electric bill. They can't do anything right now about this, this is the power grid."

"Oh, well excuse me then, Mr. Know-it-All, I'm just a dumb redhead who doesn't know her ass from a hole in the ground," Mary shot back.

Danny grinned as he took a step back and glanced at her rear, giving it a smack, he said as he quickly bolted forward, "That's your ass."

Mary narrowed her eyes at him as she felt herself blush.


	4. Chapter Four

4/

"I bet I could easily unscrew the screws holding this window in place and slide down the side of the building." Mike glanced over at Delinda before looking back out the window, "Delinda's got on a dress, Mr. D's in a tie... we could use those as a rope to climb down. I mean, sure, Delinda will be in her underwear, but it's not like all of Vegas hasn't seen that before."

Ed slowly toed out of one of his shoes and picked it up and chucked it at Mike, hitting him squarely in the back of the head. Mike turned around quickly, rubbing the back of his head, "I can't believe you'd throw a shoe at a brother, Ed, that's just cold."

"So is suggesting that my daughter can parade around Vegas in her underwear." Ed remarked.

Delinda sighed as she ran a hand through her honey blonde hair. "Dad, I'm going nuts with boredom. Don't you have anything to do in here? You know, besides work?"

Ed sighed as he opened a few desk drawers. A few minutes later he produced a deck of cards and a set of chips. Upon the questioning faces of Mike and his daughter, he shrugged, "Sometimes I get bored and play solitaire and I don't like the computer version."

Mike blinked as he stood in front of the window he was trying to break, "You get bored?"

Ed silenced him with a glare as Delinda pulled up a seat and sat down in it in front of her father's desk, "Okay, so that explains the cards, but what about the chips?"

"State law dictates that I must always have a set of chips in my office at all times." Ed responded matter-of-factly.

His daughter rolled her turquoise eyes, "Whatever, Dad. This is us, not some assistants who make their living kissing your ass and believing every word that comes out of your mouth as gospel truth."

"You know," Ed said softly as he began to shuffle the cards, "for somebody who sometimes depends on the financial assistance of her parents to bail her ass out of retail messes, you sure are a smart ass."

Delinda grinned as she sat up, straightening her back, "I get it from my father."

"Yeah yeah," he said softly as he dealt the cards out. "Hey, Mike, get over here, I'll deal you in."

Mike glanced over at his boss and Delinda before going back to examining the glass, "No thanks, Ed, I'm determined to get out of here."

"Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike," Ed said with a sigh as he stood up. Walking over to his employee , he draped an arm around him. "Listen to me for a moment, those windows cost almost a grand each. You took a pay cut when you came to work up here,"

"Which, by the way, I'm still pissed about," Mike added.

His boss shrugged, "So, cry me a river. The point, Mike, is that it would take one and a half pay checks to pay for the window, should you break it."

Mike sighed as he looked around for a moment and nodded, "I'm okay with that, Ed." He grabbed a heavy statue from Ed's desk and Ed gripped his shoulder hard, causing Mike's knees to buckle, "Drop it," Ed said softly. Mike's grip tightened around the statue, which only caused Ed to tighten his own grip around his shoulder, "I said, drop it," he growled.

Mike's hand slowly let the statue fall as Ed released his shoulder. Grinning, he gave Mike a pat on the back and headed back to his desk. "That's cold, Ed," Mike said, "As in arctic freezing, colder than a well digger's ass cold."

Nessa leaned against the wall in boredom. She sighed deeply, muttering quietly, "Well, at least there isn't a full moon out tonight."

"You can say that again," Sam said as she joined her. Both women slid down the wall and sat down on the floor. "So did you hear? Ed is stuck with Mike again."

Her friend couldn't help but laugh as she shook her head, "That poor man, he never can catch a break."

"I don't know who I feel worse for, Ed or Mike." Sam said with a laugh.

"Definitely Ed," Nessa said, laughing with her friend. "So, how are the whales?"

"Getting restless," she responded with a sigh, "Kevin Bailey's talking about taking his action to the Palms, Mr. and Mrs. Moynahan from Denver are talking about going to Caesar's and Richard Franklin is threatening to go to the Luxor."

Nessa winced as she sighed, "I'm sorry, Sam. Hopefully they'll have things back up shortly. Look on the bright side, at least you aren't high on caffeine tablets."

"That's not funny," Sam said, turning to look at her friend, "Those made me crazy."

"Yes, I know, remember? You shot at me and Delinda."

Sam sighed as she stood up. "I'm going for a walk."

Nessa watched in silence as her friend walked around.

Mary sighed as she drank her lukewarm water. Looking around Mystique she noticed how quiet it was and it actually unnerved her a little.

"Hey," she jumped and gasped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Danny backing up, his hands held up.

"Jesus, Danny, you scared the crap out of me."

"I'm sorry," he said as he sat down next to her and looked around, "I don't think I've ever seen this place empty before."

Mary nodded, "Yeah, it's little creepy." She sighed softly and turned to look at her, "Any word on when the generators are going to be fixed?"

Danny sighed himself, "Just got off the phone with an electrician and he said they are working on it. Now I just need to work up some courage to call Ed and let him know."

His friend rolled her eyes, "Ed's locked up in his office, what is he going to do? Telepathically kick your ass? Just call him, I'm sure that he'd appreciate the update."

He reached into his pocket and fished out his cell phone, "Alright, here it goes," he said as he dialed Ed's number.

Ed reached for his ringing phone, "Yeah,"

"Ed, it's me, I'm down in Mystique."

Deline sighed as he sat down in his desk chair, "Good for you."

Danny rolled his eyes, "I got a hold of the..."

Ed cut him off, "Excuse me, but did you just roll your eyes?"

The ex-Marine just blinked as he looked at his phone and then brought it back to his ear, "How could you possibly know something like that?"

The former CIA agent just shrugged, "Eyes and ears everywhere, kid, remember that. Give me an update."

"Okay," McCoy sighed, "the electrician said that they are working on getting the generators up and running as soon as they could."

"Oh great," Ed remarked, "and in the meantime, the Palms will get all of our gamblers. I swear, if I don't start getting Christmas cards from the Maloof clan soon, I'm gonna start to get pissed off."

"Yeah, and that's something nobody wants to see, Ed."

"You gettin' smart with me, kid?"

Danny swallowed hard, "Wouldn't dream of it, Sir."

"Good," Ed said, "Keep me in the loop on what's going on. My casino doing okay?"

The younger man nodded as he looked around, "Yeah, people are just pretty much standing around, not much going on."

"Alright," the older man said with a soft sigh, "just sit tight, I guess. Keep an eye on Mary, Sam and Nessa, make sure they don't get into any trouble or anything. And I guess all we can do is just wait this out."

Danny nodded, "Yeah, how are Delinda and Mike?"

"Delinda's fine, Mike, on the other hand, is looking to break a window or something, but aside from that, it's nothing I can't handle."

"Yeah, I thought you told Mike to go see somebody about that?"

"I did, but it appears that he blew me off." Ed responded.

"Not a bright move," Danny stated.

"No," he agreed, "it isn't. I'm gonna let you go now. Keep me updated." Ed hung the phone up and looked around his office.

"So what'd Danny say, Dad?"

Ed stood up and walked around his office, stretching his legs. "Talked to the electrician and said the generators ought to be up soon."

Delinda nodded and Mike's head popped up. "Mr. D, I got an idea. Don't you have a key override? Maybe you can at least get us out of this office."

Ed's eyes grew wide and he walked back to his desk, opening up drawers and finally producing a CD-ROM. Grinning at Mike, he sat down at his desk at the computer and popped the disk in. After punching a few keys, they heard a click. Delinda walked over and pulled on the door, opening it.

"Hot damn! Score one for the valet!"

Ed laughed, "Good idea, Mike, I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier." He rose to his feet and started to head out of his office.

"Yeah, well, you were too busy setting off my pressure points." Mike responded as he walked out of the office, grateful to have some fresh air.


	5. Chapter Five

5/

"Everybody doing okay out here?" Ed asked as he walked out and found his staff sitting at their desks, their eyes glazed over in boredom.

Mitch blinked a few times before responding, "Yeah, I think."

Ed glanced over and saw a monitor with a hole in its screen. Walking over, Ed examined it and then turned to face the group of people congregated in the surveillance room, "What the hell happened here?"

"Spencer got bored," Sarasvati responded dryly.

The President of Operations sighed deeply as he rubbed his forehead, "Spencer, that was a $400 monitor, I hope you don't mind getting a paycheck that's significantly less next week."

The burly African American man sighed deeply as he sat down on a desk, "All I did was tap it, Mr. D."

Ed nodded, "Oh sure, yeah, I believe that." Walking over, he said, "Lemme see these." He picked the man's hands up and looked at them, smacking the tops of them gently, "King Kong has smaller hands than you do. Maybe next time you'll think before you walk around 'tapping' monitors around here."

"Next time?" Mike asked, "Mr. D, there won't be a next time."

The older ex-CIA agent turned to face Mike, "Than I suggest the minute the power is restored you get your ass on the phone and start purchasing those generators. I'll sign the forms, to hell with Brunson, cheap bastard isn't here 90 of the time and he expects us to make do with stuff they used in the Stone Age."

Mike nodded as he sat down and sighed. "I don't suppose we could take a vent down and cut a hole in the wall of Mystique again, can we?"

"No," Ed responded as he too sighed, sitting down on a table. "Maintenance had a difficult time getting those panels restored, apparently my laser rounded the edges or something," he shrugged, "I don't know, I don't pay attention to those guys most of the time."

"So what do we do until they get the power restored, Dad?" Delinda asked as she sat down next to her father.

He shrugged, "I don't know, honey, I guess we can just sit around talking."

"We could play a game," Mitch suggested.

Ed narrowed his eyes at his employee, "What sort of game?"

"Truth or Dare," Sarasvati responded, grinning, a twinkle in her eyes.

"Ooh, yeah," Delinda said, grinning, nudging Ed, "Come on, Dad, whaddya say?"

Ed sighed, knowing he would soon regret what he was about to say, "Fine, but only on the condition that what is said in this room stays in this room."

"Oh, totally," Delinda agreed. "Okay, whose first?"

"I am," Mike said, as he looked at Ed. "Mr. D... Truth or Dare."

The former CIA-agent glanced at his employee, wondering why he was so eager to be the first one. Warily, he said, "Truth... I think."

Nodding Mike asked, "What does the tattoo on your arm mean?"

Ed rolled up a sleeve and exposed his tattoo, "This?" He sighed as he ran a hand over the faded mark and shrugged, "It's just something I got while I was on assignment somewhere."

"Where?"

"Somalia, I think... Or it may have been Beirut, I honestly don't remember anymore."

"God, it doesn't even feel like a tattoo," Delinda remarked as she ran a finger over her father's forearm, "It's like it's stained or something."

"Yeah, I've had it since you were about a year old, I remember going home and your mother saw it and she wouldn't speak to me for a week afterward," Ed said as he laughed softly.

The small collection of employees laughed softly as they all gathered around. Ed looked at them assembled and laughed, "You guys look like a bunch of children gathered around a campfire listening to a ghost story."

"Hey, it isn't every day we get biographical information on Ed Deline," Mitch said, his own interest piqued.

Rolling his eyes, he said, "Okay, is it my turn? Sarasvati, truth or dare."

The Indian woman's eyes grew wide, "Well, knowing you, if I chose dare, you'd probably make me do something that will humiliate me beyond belief, so truth."

"Is it true that you had Indian royalty in your family?" Ed asked with interest.

Sarasvati grinned at her employer before nodding in confirmation, "It is. My great-great grandmother was a princess."

"You are kidding," Mitch asked skeptically.

"No," she responded with a smile.

Ed grinned at her, "Well, Princess, it's your turn then."

Sarasvati laughed as she rolled her eyes, "Mitch, truth or dare?"

"Truth," he said as he adjusted his chair to face her.

"Why are you in the wheelchair?"

Everybody took in a quiet breath, curious themselves, but never really having the nerve to ask him. Mitch glanced down at his chair for a moment and sighed softly, "When I was seven," he began, "my father was an alcoholic. When he got drunk, he was a mean drunk, constantly screaming, throwing things at my mother and myself, beating us..." Ed couldn't help but wince as he listened to the man's story, "Anyway," Mitch said as he sighed, "he got very very drunk one night, drunker than I've ever seen him. Mom was working--she did all the working, inside and outside of the home, I can remember her working three jobs once, just to make ends meet and everytime she got a paycheck, she'd try and hide it, but dad would always find it and blow it on booze--anyway, she was working that night and I was left alone with him, something I hated. It was late and I was in bed, sleeping, and he came barreling into my bedroom, turning my light on and screaming at me to get my ass out of bed. I got out and he looked at me, demanding that I tell him where my mom's paycheck was." Mitch paused as he found himself unable to look at the faces of his co-workers, but fully aware that Ed had placed a hand on his arm, "I told him I didn't know and dad ripped his belt off and came towards me and I tried to get out of the house by breaking a window. As soon as my back was turned, I heard the sound of a gun cocking and before I got out of the window, he had fired the shot, the bullet lodging in my spine."

"Oh god," Delinda said as she felt tears falling. Standing up, she walked over and hugged the man, "Mitch, I am so sorry."

Mitch gave her a soft smile as he hugged her back, "It was a long time ago, Delinda, I've come to terms with what happened."

"What, um," Ed began, his voice soft, "what became of your father?"

Mitch sighed as Delinda released him and sat down next to him. Looking at Ed, he said, "He's in prison. A neighbor heard the gunshot and called the police and they came and they found me, dad was sitting in the corner crying and he admitted everything. They tried him and found him guilty of attempted murder and child endangerment and he was sentenced to twenty years. Everytime he comes up for parole though, my mom and I petition the courts to deny it, which is easy for them to do considering that he's killed twice since he's been there. He killed a guard six years after he was there because he wouldn't bring dad cigarettes, they still aren't quite sure how he managed to do that, and then he tried to escape and actually got out of prison and got a hold of a gun and killed a motorist who wouldn't give him a ride."

"Is he in Carson City?" Mike asked quietly.

"No," Mitch said, "He's in San Quentin. He's tried contacting me, through letters, but I just have them sent back, I have no intention of ever seeing or speaking to him again."

"I don't blame you there," Ed remarked, and then sighed, giving him a soft smile, "It's your turn, buddy."

The man glanced around and then looked at Delinda, "Truth or dare."

"Truth," Delinda remarked as she drew in a breath.

"Word has it that you were married once, is this true?"

"Oh god," Ed said as he stood up and paced. Delinda winced as she watched her father and then looked at Mitch, nodding in confirmation, "Yes."

"Tell us about it."

"I wish I was still locked in my office," Ed muttered softly, causing his daughter to glare at him.

"I don't know what you are so upset about, you had it annulled three hours later"

"That's right, I did," her father stated, "and I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"So, what happened?" A curious Mike asked.

Delinda sighed, "I met this guy when I was nineteen, right? We were living in Connecticut at the time and Daddy was off doing god knows what, god knows where--"

"I was working," Ed interjected.

"Do you mind?" Delinda asked, "I'm trying to tell my story," Ed rolled his eyes as he paced as Delinda continued, "Anyway, Daddy was working and I was in school and there was this guy in one of my classes. His name was David Murphy and let's just say the guy was so good looking he could put Brad Pitt to shame," she grinned. "David and I hung out, dating and not long we fell in love and got married."

"Yeah, more like three weeks after they met," Ed grumbled.

Mike blinked, "You married some dude three weeks after you met him?"

The free-spirited blonde merely shrugged her shoulders, "I thought I loved him. Anyway, mom didn't say too much but when Daddy got word, he grabbed David by the ear and pulled him down to the county court house and made him file annulment papers."

"And how long was that after you were married?" Mitch asked.

Delinda glanced up and chewed her upper lip in thought, "Mmm... six weeks, I think?"

Sarasvati and Mitch rolled their eyes as Mike sat there in astonishment, "Well," he said, "I guess that lasted longer than Britney's."

"Did you ever see this guy again?" Sarasvati asked.

"No," Delinda said, her voice taking on a tone of annoyance, "he joined the military and was deployed to Antarctica." As she spoke, she glared daggers at her father.

"Hey," Ed said in defense as he rose his hands up, "I had nothing to do with it."

"Uh-huh, right," a disbelieving Delinda said.

He rolled his eyes as he walked over to a small refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. "Ed, that water's probably luke warm by now," Mitch stated.

Nodding, he unscrewed the cap and took a drink, "Yeah, but it's liquid and it'll wet my dry throat."

"I want some," Delinda said as she walked over. Opening the door to the fridge, she gave her father a look of annoyance, "That was the last bottle."

He shrugged, "Perks of being the boss," he said with a grin as he walked over and sat down in a chair. "Okay, Mitch, your turn, truth or dare."

Mitch glanced at Ed, "Truth. Ed, why do you hate Jack Keller so much?"

"He tried to screw me out of $50 million dollars and he stole a painting from the gallery of my hotel. End of story."

"No, no no..." Mike said, "There's more than that. My guess is that something went down with you two."

Ed sighed as he looked at his employee. Rising to his feet, he made his way over and looked at Mike, speaking softly, "I can tell you... but then I'd have to kill you."

"I'm good with that."

Mike glared over Ed's shoulder at Mitch, "Quiet," he said before turning his attention back to his boss, "Ed, come on, please? It's not like what you tell us will leave this room anyway."

The ex-CIA agent sighed as he stalked back to the table he was sitting on and sat back down, "He turned on me," he said. "We were undercover in Costa Rica, I guess it was probably around '89 or so... Anyway, we were there to take down a drug kingpin who was planning on moving stateside to California. We get there, set up camp, and he and I begin to do what we were supposed to... Collect information and befriend the people in this asshole's gang. About two weeks into the mission, Keller goes to this guy, Escobar, the kingpin we are trying to take down, behind my back and tells him that I'm in the CIA, that I'm working on taking him down and that he wanted to let him know so Escobar could get the hell out of Dodge." Ed sighed deeply, "He tells Escobar that he met me in Argentina and was looking to get into the trafficking empire and he wanted to warn him. So what does Escobar do? Comes to the seedy little shit hole that I'm staying in, loaded gun in one hand and a knife in the other, and proceeds to scream at me in Spanish, calling me every name he could think of. He unloads a bullet into my stomach and takes his knife and slices down my neck to the top of my chest." Ed loosens his tie and unbuttons the top button of his shirt to show them the scar.

Delinda stood up and walked over to a window, her back to the room. Hearing of her father's injuries, minor or major, always made her feel a sense of sickness deep in the pit of her stomach. Reaching down, she held her stomach and sighed deeply as Ed rose to his feet. Nobody said a word when the father walked over and wrapped an arm around his daughter, leaning down to kiss the top of her head as he sighed. "It's stupid, Daddy," she said softly, "it's been sixteen years and it still scares me to death to hear you talk about what you did."

"It's not stupid, honey," he said quietly as he sighed softly. Delinda nodded and turned around, hugging her father, "I love you, daddy."

Ed smiled softly as he hugged her back, "I know, sweetie, I love you too."

Everybody in the room remained quiet as they witnessed a rarity... the soft side of Ed Deline.


	6. Chapter Six

6/

"Okay, Ed, truth or dare."

"Truth," Ed responded as he looked at his daughter, "Did you date Danny purely to piss me off?"

"Guilty," Delinda grinned. "Sorry, Daddy, but sometimes you are just fun to piss off."

He sighed as he nodded, "That's what I figured." He stood up and paced the room. Within moments the sounds of the surveillance room coming back to life filled the room, causing everybody to cheer in response.

"Thank god!" Mike exclaimed as he made a mad dash for some different surroundings. Ed rolled his eyes as he walked over and brought up the cameras onto the monitors. Delinda walked over and kissed her father's cheek, "I'm going to go home now, tell mom I said hi."

Ed nodded as he watched his daughter head out. Once he had gotten a clear view of his employees, Ed walked out into the lobby and looked outside, noticing that the rain had lessened. "I'll be damn," he remarked softly.

Mary walked up behind him, "Hey, boss."

Turning around, he smiled at her, "Hey, you doing okay?"

She nodded as she sipped her coffee, "Oh yeah, I was fine. I was with Nessa and Sam and we just girl talked. I hear you were stuck with Mike again."

He shook his head as Mary laughed, "I'm gonna order him to get that problem resolved."

"Good luck," she called out as Ed headed into the casino. Spotting Nessa, he walked up behind her, "Hey, honey, everything okay out here?"

Nessa turned around and smiled, kissing her cheek, "Yeah, Pops, things are fine. People are starting to play again, which is good."

He nodded in agreement, "Very good. You gonna be okay making it home?"

The English woman nodded as she looked around, always watching, "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Ed looked at her, unconvinced, "You sure? Cause the water's receded a little and I have no problem dropping a few people off, you being one."

"I'm good," she clarified, kissing his cheek, "You are always so sweet to me, Ed."

Ed smiled, "I just love you, honey." He sighed, "Okay, I'm gonna get home, I haven't seen Jillian in a few days and I miss the hell out of her."

Nessa laughed, "Give her a kiss and tell her I love her."

He nodded, "I will, if you have any problems, or just want to talk, you know where to reach me." Gripping her arm affectionately, Ed headed out of the casino and stopped in the lobby when he saw Danny, Mary and Sam. "Hey you three."

Sam turned around and smiled at Ed, "Hey, there he is, we were wondering if you were abducted by aliens or something."

Ed laughed, "Negative, just trapped up in a surveillance room with a claustrophobic, smart assed valet."

Danny laughed, "He's really gotta see somebody about that problem."

"I agree," the older man said. "Listen, you guys gonna get home okay? I'm going to be heading home myself, but I can drop anybody if they need a ride, the water's still pretty crazy out there."

"Well seeing as how I just live upstairs, I'll be fine."

Ed rolled his eyes and focused his attention on Mary and Danny, "How about you two? Danny, you didn't drive that camaro did you?"

The ex-Marine shook his head no, "No, dad made me take one of the Suburbans when he found out that we were going to have potential flooding so I'm going to drop Mary off and then go home myself."

Ed nodded, "Smart man." He sighed softly in exhaustion, "Okay, I'm off. If you guys need anything..." he paused for a moment, "Call Danny." He grinned as he walked out of the hotel and got into his waiting car, tipping the valet. "Thanks, Joe."

Carefully driving out of the parking lot, Ed reached for his cell phone and picked it up, dialing a familiar number and then chuckling to himself when he got a machine, "Jillian, it's me, I'm coming home, honey."

Dropping the phone into the passenger side seat, Ed pushed his foot on the pedal and sped home, grateful that yet another day had passed.


End file.
